To be a Soldier
by Wafflez4Eva
Summary: A story written by Wafflez4eva. Details one man's journey through military life. There he encounters love, friendship, and rivalry. Characters and story are original.
1. Prologue

Cast:

Zetsumei Raito

Prologue

The sun gently hovers over the horizon, casting long, lazy shadows down the neighborhood. Inside, a body lazily stirs in a entanglement of bedsheets. He is known as Zetsumei Raito.

The body sluggishly pulled himself upright. A quiet murmur escaped as he blindly fumbled around to shut off his blaring alarm clock. He slowly dragged himself out of bed, only to collapse onto the floor in a mess. Sprawled on the floor, Zetsumei moaned lazily.

"Man was not made to wake up at 6 in the morning." he whined. He shuffled over to his closet and grabbed whatever was sitting on the shelf, and began to dress himself. Today was the big day, but Zetsumei couldn't think about anything but getting more sleep. He shuffled his feet all the way to the kitchen, opening his fridge and searching inside for edible contents. Whatever the big day was, he couldn't even remember what it was at this point. He pulled out a glass and a carton of milk, and began pouring the milk into the glass as he took a big yawn. A lot of the milk simply splashed onto the floor.

"I don't think I'm going to survive the day" he said flatly.

10 A.M, and Zetsumei has finally woken up. He walked back into his room and began changing.

"Today's the big day. Today, I start my service as an enlisted soldier in the military!" he said proudly to himself. "I'm talking to myself. Hmmm, what a strange habit."

He laced his boots and pulled his camouflage jacket over his torso. He admired himself in the mirror, thinking how great he looked in uniform. He hoisted his bag up onto his shoulder and walked out the door, the bright sunny sky almost blinding him. The bag sagged heavily on his shoulder as he took slow strides down his neighborhood. A bus stopped in front of him, marked "MILITARY TRANSPORT". A creak came from the steps as he boarded, and he sat down as the bus slowly started to grind into motion. Looking out the window, his neighborhood, memories and childhood seemed to fade away.


	2. Chapter 1

Cast:

Zetsumei Raito

Kira Chigiri

Keikan Kyoukan

Okorinbou Kutabare

Azayaka Bijon

Setsu Aragau

Genzou Dangan

Buatsui Houka

Chapter 1

It's 3 P.M now, and I've been riding this bus for hours. My eyes are cast out a dirty window at a row of buildings, watching soldiers do drills in the yards. It's hard to believe that I'm going to become a soldier now. It's hard to believe that I'm going to be responsible for killing another man, and responsible for keeping myself, and my comrades, alive. Soon I'll become nothing more than an instrument used for killing another human being, and I'll be nothing more than-

"Everyone up!" A voice tore through the silence. I was startled and awkwardly rose to my feet. A tall, mean eyed man dressed in combat fatigues glared at the bus full of new recruits.

"I am Staff Sergeant Keikan Kyoukan. You new recruits are to follow me to the assembly area. It's time to get your squad assignments," he barked. We all followed him off the bus and into a large building. It was full of soldiers, and I noticed an officer behind a desk, motioning for me to come over to him. As I approached the desk, the man sitting behind it sized me up and asked,

"Name and rank?"

"Private First Class Zetsumei Raito, sir." I stated.

"Zetsumei Raito?"  
"Yessir."

"I'm assigning you to 3rd squad, Raito. You'll be under the command of Staff Sergeant Kyoukan."  
"Yessir."

I walked away, unsure which direction to go. Luckily, I managed to find Staff Sergeant Kyoukan, and I followed him to the barracks. As we turned into the room that was designated for our squad, he sharply turned around and glared at me. I stopped immediately, almost running into him.

"Why are you following me, Private?" he demanded.

"I'm Private First Class Zetsumei Raito, sir. I've been assigned to 3rd squad?"

He stared at me for a bit, unsure what to say.

"Welcome to the squad, Raito. Your bunk is over there." He pointed to a bunk in the corner. "You're sharing a bunk with Corporal Kira Chigiri."

My mind went blank for a second. I was bunking with a girl?

"Corporal Kira Chigiri, sir?"

"Might as well put you in with the rest of the girls. Do you have a problem with that, Private?"

This guy intimidates me.

"No, Staff Sergeant."

"Good."

Almost on cue, a woman dressed in combat fatigues walks into the barracks. She tosses her long, flowing black hair from side to side. She was beautiful. My face flushed red as she took her glasses off.

"Say hello to your new bunkmate, Corporal."  
She looked at me with disgust. I blinked.

"With this scrub?" She hissed at me. Her eyes glared into mine. "Just don't try anything."

Staff Sergeant Kyoukan stared at her.

"Why don't you show the new kid a little respect? Take it easy on him."

Corporal Chigiri shoved me aside and walked to her bunk.

"Up yours." She seethed.

"What was that, Corporal?"

"Up yours, SIR."

There was silence.

"I don't have time for this." Kyoukan said, and he promptly left the room, leaving Corporal Chigiri and I alone. I could feel her eyes burning holes in the back of my head. I was too afraid to look back at her.

"Hey, Scrub." She called. I didn't budge. "Wetnose!"

"I have a name." I muttered softly. Corporal Chigiri got off her bunk and walked over to me. She stared right at me as I hung my head.

"What did you say, Private?"

"Nothing, ma'am."

"Damn right, you said nothing. The last thing we need in this squad is a smart-mouthed pretty boy who can't hold his own when the bullets start flying, and I'm going to tell you now that when you're lying in the dirt, spitting up blood, I'm not going to be the one collecting your dogtag. You got that?"

I stood in silence for a bit.

"Pretty boy, ma'am? Are you implying I'm attractive, ma'am?"

She seemed to be caught off guard with this comment. Her cheeks turned red slightly and her mouth hung open. Finally, she managed to speak.

"Shut up, Private. Go grab your weapon from the armory."

"Yes ma'am."

I walked past her and headed down the hall. I didn't need to turn around to know that Corporal Chigiri was still staring at me. As I reached the armory, an officer behind the counter barely glanced at me. He handed me a rifle and a pistol as well as a helmet.

"That's your standard issure M16-A4 assault rifle. Fires on full-auto or semi with 5.56mm NATO rounds. The pistol is a M1911-A1, chambered for .45 caliber ACP rounds. The helmet is your standard Kevlar, but the best shield is just not getting shot. Any questions?"

My head hurt.

"No, sir."

"Good. Report back to your squad, son."

"Yessir."

My head swimming full of thoughts, I made my way back to the barracks. When I entered, I noticed Staff Sergeant had rounded up a few more guys. I focused more on finding out where Corporal Chigiri was. As I worked my way through the crowd, I accidentally bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going, you blind idiot!"

"Sorry…" I said.

Corporal Chigiri was sitting on her bunk, cleaning her rifle. I walked up to her and she glanced up at me. She had most of the rifle disassembled.

"What seems to be the problem with your rifle, sir?"

She glared at me.

"…I mean, ma'am."

"I'm not sure, Private. Maybe you'd like to stick your head in the barrel and find out?"

I shook my head.

"Then get out of here."

I started to leave the bunk, but just at that moment, Sergeant Kyoukan called out and said:

"Everyone in your bunks! We're doing a nighttime training exercise tonight, and you should all be rested up and ready to go!"

I slowly turned around and stared at Corporal Chigiri. She reassembled her rifle and stared right back at me. I could feel a shiver climb up my spine. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder.

"You're sleeping with her tonight?" a soldier asked. "You're one lucky bastard."

"You're going to be one unlucky bastard if you don't get to your bunk, soldier."

The soldier scurried away, and I stood frozen, staring at Corporal Chigiri. I didn't know what to say, and I simply stood there and swallowed.

"What's the matter, Private? Afraid to talk to girls?"

"No, ma'am."

Then, for the first time, I saw Corporal Chigiri smile at me. It seemed warm and welcoming, which caught me by surprise.

"Well, rest up and hop up on the top bunk, Scrub."

She lay down on the bottom bunk.

"We've got a long night ahead of us."

It was then that I realized I had been staring at her the whole time. I felt calmed by her presence, even if she was slightly intimidating. With her smile, she was absolutely stunning. I couldn't help but think, that possibly that Corporal Chigiri and I are going to-

"You going to gawk at me all night or are you going to rest up, Private?"

I snapped out of it.

"Sorry, Corporal."

She smiled her beautiful smile again and looked at me warmly.

"Please. Call me Kira."

"Alright, Kira."

The following night, we all woke up at 9 PM. We dressed up in our combat gear and headed out the door to an open field. I was still adjusting my helmet strap as I exited the building. During the training exercises, Kira was beside me the entire time. She would glance over ever so often to see if I was doing okay. She seemed much friendlier than she first appeared.

We took a breather to cool down at around midnight. As Kira and I sat off to the side to catch our breaths, the rest of the squad milled about the yard. I started to reflect on the exercises. Kira was in surprisingly good shape. She wasn't even winded by the training and I was huffing and trying to catch my breath. She talked the entire time we were conditioning. Unfortunately, I couldn't pay attention to a word she said. While she was telling me about her childhood, I was struggling with cranking out that last push-up.

We didn't say much to each other, and we simply watched the other soldiers walk about the yard. She looked up at the stars and over at me. I didn't so much as glance at her, my entire body wanted to shut down and go back to sleep. I remained still and silent. Kira and I didn't talk much that night.

The following morning, our squad was scheduled for firearms practice. We grabbed our rifles and pistols and headed down to the range, where targets were placed so far, I could barely see them. We all had our rifles at the ready and we opened fire down the range. As I let loose shot after shot, Staff Sergeant Kyoukan became increasingly impressed with my marksmanship skills.

I was unable to see the bullets hitting the target, but as Staff Sergeant Kyoukan looked down the range, he smiled and seemed impressed with where my bullets were landing. I had a talent for hitting targets, it seems. But down the range, someone was landing perfect bull's-eyes as if he was a marksman expert. I felt beaten.

Later that night, 3rd squad was rounded up and I looked around at the amount of guys in our squad. I counted 7 faces, including mine brought the count up to 8. Five of us being riflemen, two of us being recon, one of us toting a giant machine gun. We decided to introduce ourselves.

"My name is Corporal Okorinbou Kutabare." A mean faced ruffian said. He looked no younger than his mid 30s. His beard was rough and stubby. He looked like one of those bad-asses from the TV shows.

"I don't like any of you, so stay out of my way."

He wasn't friendly, needless to say. Next to speak was a thin, rather frail boy no older than 20. He looked very agile.

"I'm Private Azayaka Bijon, and I was the runner for my high school track team." He turned towards the next person.

"Well, I'm Private Setsu Aragau. Fresh from high-school." Said a young man. Fresh was correct, there was no way he was any older than 18. "And I can't wait to get my first kill."

"Pith and vinegar…" someone mumbled.

"My name is Corporal Kira Chigiri."

No mistaking who that was. Oddly, she didn't say anything after that. Next was a tall, thick-limbed man who towered over the rest of us. He looked very friendly for someone with such an intimidating build.

"I am Private Buatsui Houka. I am being heavy weapons gunner."

He spoke with a thick accent and he seemed under-educated.

"Private First Class Genzou Dangan, sir." A voice crept out from behind the crowd. It was another rather shady looking character. He spoke with a very low tone.

They all turned to me.

"I'm Private First Class Zetsumei Raito." I glanced around nervously.

Kutabare glared at me. My feet wanted to turn and run from him, but I remained frozen in place.

"I don't like that name." He finally said. "I'll call you Waffuru."

Was he naming me after a breakfast food?

"Waffuru it is!" Kira agreed laughingly.

It was from then on that I would be known as Private First Class Zetsumei "Waffuru" Raito. Staff Sergeant Kyoukan cut the laughter and told us to rest up.

"We have a big day tomorrow. We're starting our trip to the frontlines."

We all stared at him in silence. Nobody quite said anything, and an awkward emptiness filled the room. Even Kutabare seemed stunned.

"After two days of training, sir?" Houka managed to say.

Staff Sergeant Kyoukan didn't say a word, but simply nodded and walked off towards his bunk. The group dispersed, leaving Kira and I alone. We stared at each other, unsure if we had heard correctly. I took a deep breath.

"This is it, Kira." I managed to say.

"Whuh?" she mumbled slightly.

"We're going to war."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

5:23 AM, February 16th. Year of 23 in the S.C era.

A truck is loaded up with soldiers. The soldiers belong to 33rd infantry division, Charlie company. In one truck is 3rd squad of 1st platoon. Among the soldiers is one PFC. Zetsumei Raito, sitting in silence as the truck slowly departs from the training facility.

--

24 years ago, the world was divided into 5 great masses of land. The nation of Godai ruled the land to the North. Anjiea Commonwealth was the keeper of the West, next to the nation Aozora in the South. A far domain on the Eastern edge of the world is under control by the people of the Haisou nation. In the center of all the nations was the largest landmass, a unifying republic by the name of The Gurumi Union.

In year 67 of the G.A era, The Gurumi Union launched a project that would skyrocket productivity of each nation by increasing mechanical production, and every single nation dedicated their resources into the project. However, a year into the project, the government officials embezzled the resources for a strong military for a large-scale invasion of the 5 landmasses.

However, as the founders of the project began to take the resources into a different matter, the other nations grew more suspicious as they heard less and less about the project, and rumors of a massive build-up of military force began to spread. Eventually, the nations began to cut back on funding of the project that was beginning to disappear.

As less and less resources were flowing into the Union, generals began arguing over the little resources they were receiving, trying to fund their own part of the army. The Union edged closer and closer to civil war, and matters turned worse when the project ceased to exist, and the surrounding nations protested furiously over having funded such a disaster. With the Union cut off from the other 4 nations, the government became more and more unstable.

One day a general, Akogi Demotte was murdered by an opposing general. The Union broke out in a civil war, destroying much of it's own resources in a bloody 3 day massacre. The remnants of Akogi's military were the victors, but failed to establish an effective government to re-stabilize the Union. They were disbanded and the Gurumi Union ceased to exist.

--

Somewhere in the Godai nation in present day, a truck rolls along a dusty road. The truck is loaded with soldiers, swaying back and forth as the truck bounces about, carrying them to their possible fate.

Zetsumei looked up and surveyed his surroundings. Everyone looked beaten, defeated and dejected. They all stared at their feet, swaying with the motion of the truck, remaining completely speechless. He lowered his head and stared back down at his feet. He closed his eyes as the truck continues it's way down the dusty road.

--

After the collapse of the Gurumi Union, the G.A (or Golden Age) era ended. A year after the collapse the four nations decided to divide the landmass equally among themselves. As each nation divided the land fairly, they discovered the riches that the Gurumi Union contained, they began to industrialize and the economy of the 4 nations boomed.

With the new riches in possession of the 4 nations, they decided to search for evidence of the project that disappeared the year before. The four nations banded together and formed the Nyuu Doumei Republic. They searched for traces of the project, but were met with very little success.

One day, the Godai scientists managed to come across the remnants of the Industrial Project, buried deep within the heart of the former Gurumi Union. Overwhelmed by this discovery, the Godai nation shared the discovery with the rest of the nations. They all quickly devoted their resources to completing the project.

However, one nation was very hesitant to donate, and it was the Haisou nation that was not attracted by the idea of restoring the project for industrialization. Haisou believed the project would bring about corruption to the nations and one day, attempted to sabotage it.

When reports of a bomb going off in Godai territory circulated, the nations were in frenzy. The remnants of the Industrial Project were completely vaporized, and all the research had been destroyed. The Haisou nation claimed responsibility for the bombing, warning the other nations that the project would have brought about greed and the collapse of the nation as it did to the Gurumi Union.

The Godai nation abandoned the project completely, but was still in high suspicion of the Haisou nation for attacking Godai territory. Expecting there to be a massive war erupting between the two nations, the Anijea Commonwealth and Aozora began to militarize to defend themselves in the case of a large-scale attack. The age of S.C, or Social Collapse, had begun as the Nyuu doumei Republic came to an end..

Godai and Haisou both saw this military build-up as a security threat and warned the nations that if any attacks were made, they would retaliate. With the entire world in paranoia, Aozora secretly began working on the Industrial Project once more, trying to re-create the project from scratch.

By this time, Anijea and Aozora made friendly connections, as they believed that the Godai and Haisou nations were ready to go at war with one another. Haisou and Godai saw this alliance as a plan to dominate over the both of the two nations, but made no moves to form an alliance of their own, running the fear that the Anijea-Aozora alliance would see it as a hostile move.

Aozora revealed the existence of the project to the Anijea officials, who strongly protested the project and quickly ended the treaty between the two nations. The information was quickly passed to the other nations, who were outraged by the Aozora nation carrying out the project in secret. Haisou sent a strike force against Aozora, causing small skirmishes along the coast of the Aozora.

With Haisou and Aozora inching closer to war, the Godai and Anijea nations agreed to a treaty, and became allies in the possibility of a war breaking out. Haisou did not see this as a hostile movement, but the Aozora nation believed the two nations were allying to invade the Aozora nation, and warned the Godai-Anijea alliance that a counter-attack would be necessary if the nations attacked.

Hostilities between Haisou and Aozora intensified, and Haisou began throwing bigger and bigger forces at the Aozora nation to destroy the project, or to cause the Aozora nation to surrender. However, the Industrial Project was making progress and was already starting to impact Aozora's economy, causing the Aozorian military to have a resource advantage over Haisou forces.

Things turned from bad to worse when a Anijean platoon was mistaken for Aozorian troops and Haisou strike forces opened fire on them, killing the entire platoon. Anijean officials grew hostile with Haisou and told them to withdraw their troops from Aozora immediately.

Haisou suspected Anijea of supporting Aozora in the project and launched a front against both nations. Anijea quickly put up a defense and fended off Haisou forces. Aozora diplomats arrived in Anijea in offers of a truce to join in a mass invasion of Haisou. The offer was rejected and the diplomats were executed on national television. Outraged, the Aozorian military invaded Anijea.

Haisou called off the military campaign against Anijea, for they were unofficial allies in the campaign against Aozora. Godai supplied resources to Anijea, but never entered combat with Aozora, and remained completely neutral.

12 years had passed since the collapse of the Gurumi Union, and the skirmishes from Aozora and Anijea faded into quiet conflicts, with each nation living in distrust of one another. After years of war, all four nations sent representatives to negotiate peace settlements. The four nations were relieved to finally bring an end to the conflict.

However, during the peace talks, disaster struck. Haisou extremists assassinated the Godain representative. They saw Godai's passiveness during the fights during the Aozora-Anijea-Haisou conflicts, which was later dubbed the Mechanical War, as intent to bring Haisou and Anijea to a weakened state.

Godai declared war on Haisou, battling along the borders. The battle lasted for months, carrying on into the year of 14 S.C. Anijea sent support to Godai, and Aozora saw this as an opportunity to move in on Anijean territory. They began preparing their military for an invasion on Anijea.

Godai and Haisou agreed to a cease-fire after several months of combat. However, in 15 S.C, Aozorian troops marched into Anijean territory and seized several cities. Anijeans retaliated, slowly retaking the land they had lost. The war waged for years, with Anijeans making slow progress.

After 5 years of fighting, Anijean troops pushed into the Aozorian part of the mainland. Many of Aozora's resources were moved from the Aozora Island onto the mainland. Aozora was preparing for a counter-attack. against Anijea.

--

Private Setsu Aragau nudged Zetsumei gently. Zetsumei had dosed off during the ride, and he slowly lifted his head and turned to face Aragau.

"Yeah, Setsu?" he uttered sleepily.

"Waffuru, I'm not very sure about this. Do you really think we're ready for combat?"

Zetsumei only shrugged and turned away. He couldn't think about joining the fight. At least, not yet. It was too much for him to think about.

"I hope you're ready for combat, wetnose." Kira said.

Zetsumei hung his head and slipped back to sleep. The truck continued it's way down the road, surrounded by the other trucks. The view was obscured by dust as the trucks rattled down the road, continuing on it's seemingly never-ending road.

--

In 21 S.C, Aozorian soldiers marched into Anijean territory. For years after, the two sides would take and lose land. Just as Anijea was invaded, hostilities between Haisou and Godai intensified as Haisou troops were spotted off the edge of the Haisou-Godai border. The entire mainland had become a battlefield.

Godai warned Haisou that if the troops attacked, they would launch an invasion into Haisou as retaliation. In 22 S.C, a shot was heard near the Godai-Haisou border, and a firefight broke out. The two immediately declared war, and Haisou began pushing Godain troops back.

Godai would lose half of its territory on the mainland, holding out the best they can. Anijea was unable to send aid due to the conflict with Aozora. By 23 S.C, the world was thrown into conflict and war.

The current situation stands with Godai allied with Anijea, and at war with Haisou and uneasy relations with Aozora. Anijea is allied with Godai and is fighting light skirmishes against Haisou and in war with Aozora. Aozora and Haisou are neutral, and are both combating the Godai-Anijea Alliance.

We now join Zetsumei Raito of 33rd infantry division, Charlie company, 1st platoon, 3rd squad. He sits asleep as the vehicle grinds to a halt. Kutabare gives him a light tap on the head.

"Wake up." He grumbled.

Zetsumei moaned confusedly.

"We're here, now get your rear in gear."

One by one, they hop out of the truck. A mass of soldiers moves towards their outpost, rifles slung over their shoulders. 33rd infantry division would be stationed at this outpost for the next few weeks. Zetsumei pulled out a notebook he brought from home, and flipped through the pages. It was empty, but would be filled over the next few weeks.

Light thuds could be heard in the distance.

"Hear that, soldiers?" an officer called above the crowd. "That's the sound of war in the distance!"

Charlie Company would be in the midst of those thuds within a matter of weeks.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

We walked into the outpost, dragging our feet as we went. 10,000 soldiers rustled and shifted their way into the building. I hung my head, still half asleep as I worked my way through the sea of soldiers, and into the outpost. I suddenly snapped out of my trance and came to a quick realization. I had absolutely no clue where I was.

"Waffuru!"

Was that Corporal Chigiri?

"Wetnose! Over here, you dumbass!"

Yeah, that was Corporal Chigiri all right. I followed her voice through the crowd, pushing aside random bodies. It wasn't easy to find her in this mess. I could hear her voice growing nearer and clearer as I slowly worked my way through the crowd.

"There you are, Scrub!"

I was still making my way to her when I was shoved aside by a random soldier, and I collided right into Corporal Chigiri. I looked at her slowly with my mouth hanging open and I stared at her cheeks, growing redder. I could feel my own starting to burn.

"Sorry, Kira. I mumbled.

"That's Corporal Chigiri, Scrub." She hissed as he tossed a bag at me. "This is your equipment, now go get in the Charlie company barracks."

I looked around nervously at the complex or halls and rooms.

"Where would that be, ma'am?"

She glared at me, and I slowly shrunk in place. First she was a saint to me, now she's about ready to take off my head. What is up with this lady?

"Down the hall, fifth door on the right."  
"Moving out."

I made my way down the hall, trying not to get knocked over by the stream of soldiers moving about. My bag swung as I strolled down the hallway, looking for the fifth door on the right. As I approached the fifth door, I turned and walked into a large barracks. Bunk beds stretching down the entire room, it was heaven.

"Waffuru, you get that bunk in the corner." Kyoukan said. "The one right next to Private Bijon."

I walked over to my bunk and tossed my equipment onto the top. Bijon looked at me.

"You're from 1st platoon, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, 3rd squad. You're our sharpshooter, aren't you?"

Bijon gave a modest shrug and merely grinned. He was cradling his rifle which had a scope mounted on the top. I tossed my rifle on the floor and hopped up on the top bunk. We both sat facing each other.

"So, we're going to war after two days of training?" he said.

I could only nod.

"Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me."

I stared at him.

"You really think we're just going to be shipped out to die, Bijon?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't we be? The Haisou troops have already occupied half of our territory on the mainland. We're just trying to slow the advance." He said grimly.

I only stared at him.

"We're cannon fodder, Waffuru. Made to delay the inevitable."

"We're soldiers, Bijon. That kind of talk is going to get you killed around here."

"What's the difference between us and them, Zetsumei?"

I shrugged.

"We're fighting and dying for a cause, right?" I answered.

"And they aren't?" he said. "Zetsumei, we're exactly like them. They tell their men to go die for their country and they listen. We're out here for the exact same reason, Zetsumei. Because someone told us to come here and die."

"We're here because we were told to fight, Bijon." I replied. "And that's just what we'll do."

"Our armored divisions are covering our North flanks. In case you haven't noticed, there are a lot of explosions going off in the distance. They have tanks, Zetsumei. We have bullets that bounce right off them."

"Shut the hell up, you two!" Chigiri shrieked.

She walked right in between us and stared us both down.

"Like it or not, we're here. What you believe in, what you think we're here for, that shit doesn't matter anymore." She stared at Bijon. "Because you're still here either way. Understood, Private?"

"Yes ma'am."

Nobody got much sleep that night.

--

The following morning, we were moving out. The 112th division was falling back and 33rd was tasked with the job of holding the line. Charlie Company was to be positioned right in the dead center of the line. We got in our trucks and continued down the road towards the fighting in the distance, which had calmed. As we moved up the road, we saw the remnants of 112th passing us by.

"Holy shit…"

The men that were walking by looked terrible. They were bandaged, bloody and they walked in a very somber manner. Some were missing arms, eyes, and legs. I had a sinking feeling some of them had not come back at all.

"You boys are in for a rough week." One of them called to us.

"Yeah? Why's that?" Kutabare yelled back.

"We're the lucky ones, man. Can't say you're going to be as lucky."

Our morale sank with each passing soldier missing a limb or was bandaged up. They all looked as if they had already died. We looked at each other, but no one in 3rd squad said anything. Finally, Kutabare broke the silence.

"We're in for it now, right Waffuru?"

"Why do you call me Waffuru anyways?"

"Because you're soft, kid. You're soft and sweet and all fluffy on the inside. You think you'll last a minute against the Haisou armored division?"

I bowed my head. Aragau and Dangan chattered away together in the corner. They rest of us were quiet. Our trucks moved towards the horizon, where smoke and flames would engulf everything that came near it. We were headed right into the bowels of hell.

--

"INCOMING!!"

BOOM! A loud explosion startled me from my sleep and caused me to jump in my seat. Everyone scrambled out of the truck and I was shoved out of the truck. I awkwardly crashed to the floor with my rifle trailing down after me. As I lay sprawled on the floor, my comrades around me all scrambled to take cover. I felt a hand grab my collar and jerk me up and pull me. In the confusion, the person threw me down into a dugout hole on the ground.

"Stay down and out of harm's way!" the voice said. He wasn't from 3rd squad.

"Where's 3rd squad?!" I yelled over the sound of explosions.

"What platoon are you from!?"

"1st!"

"You're way off, this is 2nd platoon, keep moving down the line!"

I didn't want to climb out of the foxhole, but he shoved me out and I grabbed my rifle and made my way towards 1st platoon, keeping my head down the entire way. I dashed down the line, keeping as low as I could with explosions going off, to the left and right and the front of me, showering me in debris and dirt. Confused screams were coming up from everywhere. As I started to get closer to 3rd squad, I felt a hand grab my ankle and pull me down.

"AHHH!"

I fell into a foxhole, and landed right on top of Corporal Chigiri. She stared at me for a brief second and shoved me aside. I was disoriented.

"Don't get any ideas, Private!"

I fumbled with my rifle and kept a hand over my helmet. Explosions were still going off 5 meters away, dirt rained down on us.

"Waffuru! Over here!" a voice rang out.

It was coming from the foxhole next to mine. I saw Dangan and Aragau peeking their heads up from their foxhole to look over at me. The ground shook with each shell pounding our position. I could hear Sgt. Kyoukan yelling over the explosions.

"Everyone stay in your positions! Keep your heads DOWN!"

He didn't need to tell us twice. The final explosions went off, but just as the last thud came off in the distance…

"MEDIIIC!"

The cry rang out throughout the entire line. The scream was pained, and frantic. I looked down the line to see who had been hit. Someone from 2nd squad was laying on the ground, writhing in agony. I quickly leaped out of my foxhole to see what had happened.

"MEDIC!"

A group of men gathered around him and tried to calm him down. Voices were everywhere.

"Come on, Furonto. You're going to be alright."

"Calm down, it ain't that bad."

"We'll get you fixed up, no worries about it."

"Someone get that Goddamn medic!"

Blood was squirting out of the man's right thigh. It looked like a piece of shrapnel had caught him in the leg. Everyone was applying pressure to the wound, but blood was escaping through every little crevice and began to leave a crimson stain on the dirt. A man with a red cross on his arm quickly ran to him and started bandaging him.

"Everybody get back, I got this!" he said.

Everyone stared on as the man on the floor groaned while the medic was applying bandages to his leg. After fixing up his leg, he motioned for them to carry him away. Two soldiers grabbed the wounded man by the collar and started dragging him away towards an aid station. I couldn't do anything but stare. Someone came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to find that Dangan had left his foxhole to come find me. He looked at me right in the eyes.

"Maybe we should get back to our foxholes, huh?"

I nodded slowly. We walked back to our foxholes, and I sat down in mine, next to Corporal Chigiri. We sat there in the foxhole and stared out at the field ahead of us. It was blackened with artillery fire.

"So this is war, wetnose." Corporal Chigiri said. "Think you can handle it?"

I sat there and turned slowly towards her. The question that was on my mind was why she was being so nice to me back at training, but is so cold to me out here.

"Why do you do that, Corporal?"

"Do what?"  
"You were so friendly and warm at training. But now, you seem like you hate me."

She averted her gaze. She seemed like she was hiding something.

"Well, I'm sorry Private." She answered.

That was all that she said for the rest of the day. We slept in the foxhole, that night. The dirt was uncomfortable. The line covered their foxholes and we all decided to get some sleep. We started setting up a camp a ways away from the front line. While it was being constructed, we slept in our foxholes, and I slept next to Corporal Chigiri.

Needless to say, it was a very uncomfortable night.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lollipops were floating everywhere. I couldn't believe it, but I had somehow stumbled into a land that was composed entirely of candy. The sky was a soft, tender pink with cotton candy clouds. The breath I took was filled of aromas of wonderful, sugary treats. I reached out and grabbed a candy bar and slowly brought it to my mouth…

"Raito, wake up." Kira nudged me.

I opened my eyes groggily and lazily turned my head towards Kira.

"Yes, ma'am?" I said sleepily. It was still late at night.

"Sorry to wake you, Private." She said. "I just need to talk to you about some things."

I sat up and cradled my gun closer to me. My helmet was hanging off to the side and my goggles were askew. My entire appearance was a mess.

"What's the matter?" I said.

"I just can't sleep, Zetsumei. I have too much on my mind."

I looked around the line. All the others were asleep in their foxholes, and everyone looked at peace. Kira was hugging her knees, her rifle across her lap and looked very anxious. She hadn't slept a minute all night, it seemed. She refused to make eye contact with me, and stared at her feet, huddled in an agitated mess.

"Tell me a bit about what's wrong, ma'am." I said softly.

"Look at me, Raito. Do I look like the kind of girl that's supposed to be out at war, being shot at?" she said shakily.

Corporal Chigiri was a beautiful woman, she had long flowing black hair and a face that had flawless features, like a gleaming gem. However, her pained expression was almost unbearable to see.

"No, ma'am." I admitted.

"I know what you're wondering, Raito."

I blinked.

"You're wondering how I ended up in the military in a division full of men." She said.

I nodded slowly. What was I supposed to say?

"Well, it's a long story…"she stalled.

"I have time, ma'am." I said.

"Well alright then." She said as she finally made eye contact. "Listen up."

--

I was born in a city in the southern part of the Godai Island. That day was 22 years ago, and up until I was 10, I lived like I was any other normal girl. I loved to read, ever since my early days, and I started writing my first stories ever since I was 8.

_Since you were 8? That's very impressive._

Indeed it is. But when I reached the age of 10, my father began training for a military lifestyle and told me that I was to follow my family's footsteps and become a soldier, as all my grandfathers did. Unfortunately, when they were expecting a boy, I was born and they decided to make me a soldier either way. He taught me weapon handling and basic survival skills, made me live off the land for days at a time. I had to struggle and fight for everything I ever wanted or needed, and because of that, it has robbed me of my innocence. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm always bitter and snappy with anyone I talk to.

I knew I was destined to join the military at one point in my life, so I decided to publish at least one story before I was shipped out to war. However, the syndicate turned down my book and my father signed me up for the military before I could get a second chance. I was one of the first women to ever join the military. Everyone frowned upon me, thought I was too weak to do a "man's job", they never thought I would be able to kill a man. I was kept on cleaning and cooking duties for an entire year.

Finally, I was given a chance to head out on the frontlines. My father had heard about me not being on the frontlines and pulled strings to get me assigned to a division heading out to battle. Eventually, he managed to stick me in this division with the rest of you, and here I am. Sitting in a foxhole with a bunch of strangers, revealing my entire past to a kid I met not one week ago.

The worst part about all this is, I don't think I'm cut out for battle, Raito. I saw that guy who got hit in the leg today, and I don't think I can do this. I want to write a book, not take another human being's life. Today I sit with a rifle in my hand, capable of killing someone. How am I supposed to live with myself after this war is over?

--

Kira and I stared at each other for a moment. I couldn't find the right words to say to her, and I never knew that she was this complex. She finally relaxed and leaned back and shut her eyes, ready to get some sleep. Her rifle dropped out of her lap.

"You know, it's a strange thing, Waffuru." She said.

I stared blankly at her.

"I come out here and find so many kids like you who signed up, ready to fight. You all volunteered to die for your country. The funny thing is, you've never volunteered to kill for your country."

She turned away from her rifle and me and said nothing more. I must have stared at her for another hour before being able to sleep again. Thinking about what Kira said, I started to wonder whether joining the military was the right choice. I closed my eyes and took my mind off of it, and said to myself that I'm here, and that's all that matters. That night, I couldn't stop dreaming of what Kira had told me.

--

I woke up the next morning, forgetting where I was. When I saw Kira asleep next to me, I quickly realized I was in the midst of a battlefield. But that was all that came to my mind, nothing about it being right or wrong, it was just where I was. It was also around that time that when I woke up, I realized that my hands were wrapped around Kira's waist. Startled, I pulled my hands away from her and looked around to see if anyone was watching. As I surveyed all the foxholes around me, I sighed with relief to find that everyone was still asleep.

I took my helmet off and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead. What was I doing? Was I falling in love with my superior? But then I also realized that Kira fell asleep across from me, facing away and in order for me to have my hands around her, she would have to have rolled all the way to me…. Or she must have intentionally moved.

My hand slid into my pack, digging around for a notebook. The notebook made contact with the tips of my fingers, and I pulled out a thin, yellow journal out of the bag. I grabbed a pen out of the bag and began to write on the first page of the notebook.

--

It's around 0600 hours.

Last night we were deployed to what looks like the edge of a forest. We're all dug in here, waiting for our chance to attack. However, as we sit here, we all think about home.

Kira really reached out to me last night. When she revealed all these things about her past, I couldn't help but relate to her. I remember my parents pressuring me into doing things that I never wanted to do. However, I can't imagine what it must be like to be raised only to follow one certain profession, especially one you don't want to do. She seems so much more approachable now, and even has this gentle, sweet side. It's hard to believe, but I'm beginning to like Corporal Chigiri. I don't know whether to call her Kira or Corporal Chigiri just yet, but I hope I'll get to find out soon. She's sleeping next to me as I write this, and I wonder if someday she'll ever know about these confused feelings I have for her. I gaze upon her now, admiring her beauty and the courage she has to be the only female in an all-male division. The most shocking part about this is, I think I may be falling in lo-

--

"Private Raito!"

"AUUGH!" I yelped. The sudden arrival of Sergeant Kyoukan caught me so off guard, I dropped my notebook and jumped. I quickly scrambled to retrieve it, and slipped it into my bag as Kira began to wake up.

"Nervous in the service there, Raito?"

"No, sir."

Kira got up and grabbed her rifle and climbed out of the foxhole lazily. I did the same.

"Corporal, go round up the rest of them men and have them come back with me to the headquarters. Our CO is arriving today, and I want the men to personally greet him." He said.

"Yes sir." She responded.

I was puzzled. "What's a CO, Kira?"

"Commanding Officer, Zetsumei. He's in charge of this entire company."

As Sergeant Kyoukan walked away, we went down the line, fetching guys from 3rd squad. Most of them were still asleep, but they agreed to come with us nonetheless. I grabbed Houka, Bijon and Aragau and met up with Kira, Dangan and Kutabare at the headquarters. There we saw a tall man, solid in stature. He was our lieutenant.

"Good morning, men." He said.

"Good morning, sir." We all responded.

"I am Lieutenant Bryant, but you can call me Shanks. I hear that nicknames are quite the things with you young soldiers now."

Why did Shanks sound like something out of a strange anime show? He seemed like a aged, but also very gentle man. How he ended up in a profession like this I will never know.

"Why are you called Shanks?" Houka asked.

"Because when I was still a sergeant, an enemy soldier was storming my position. When my weapon jammed and I had no time to grab my sidearm, I quickly went for my combat knife and jammed it right into his skull. I fought the rest of that battle with only my knife."

We all looked at each other. It must have been years ago.

"What's your nickname, son?" he asked Houka.

"Actually, my name is Houka, sir." He responded. The Lieutenant raised his eyebrow.

"I can see that, Private. But I'm asking you for your nickname."

Houka seemed confused.

"But my name isn't Nick, sir."

We all held back chuckles. Houka's lack of intelligence was sadly amusing. Just then, a soldier came in with a map and set it down in front of Lieutenant Bryant. He whispered something into the lieutenant's ear, and promptly left the room. The lieutenant examined the map and a more serious complexion began to creep across his face. He looked up at Sergeant Kyoukan.

"Sergeant, tell all of Charlie Company to ready their defenses. Enemy troops are moving in on our position and are trying to take us by surprise, fortify your positions." He said.

"Yes, sir. You heard the man, let's move out, 3rd squad!" Kyoukan said.

We all dashed out of the tent back to the lines. Bijon sprinted ahead of us and called out to the entire line. As we all got to our foxholes, we kept the warnings coming.

"Everybody ready, enemy movement towards our position! Get ready, move it out, move it out!"

I dove into my foxhole with Kira and we both pointed our guns off in the horizon. There was no movement in the woods off in the distance, but we kept our eyes trained on it. The screams kept moving down the line and everyone found cover in a foxhole or behind a stack of logs or whatever they could hide behind. There was a bunker set up next to us that had rifles pointing out towards the woods on the opposite side.

Sergeants were throwing out orders to their subordinates, and soldiers were scrambling to positions. I surveyed around to find where my squad mates were. Aragau had taken up a position in a makeshift bunker made of logs, and Dangan was next to him. Houka was lying down behind a log, his machine gun deployed and aimed off in the distance a little ways down the line. Bijon and Kutabare were in the bunker and Kira and I were in the foxhole. Sergeant Kyoukan had taken up a position behind a tree.

We were all waiting for the first sign of movement coming from the woods, and we flipped the safety off of our guns. Our weapons were hot, and we now had the power to kill a human being. The first soldiers began to appear off in the distance.

"Hold your fire!" someone called out.

"Hold your fire, 3rd squad!" Kyoukan repeated.

We all tensed up, waiting for the bullets to fly.

"If we die today, then let every drop of blood mark the boundary to Godai territory that the Haisou forces were unable to penetrate!" Kyoukan continued.

I put my finger on the trigger.

"Remember why we fight! Don't show any mercy, because you sure won't be getting any from them!" Kyoukan screamed as he pointed off in the distance.

The soldiers drew closer and closer, and everyone was silent. We waited for the spark to set off the bloody massacre that would ensue. We all stared on towards our enemy, expecting what may possibly be our doom. The order was sent down the line.

"Charlie Company, open fire!"


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

I squeezed the trigger, and a 5.56mm round burst out of the front of my gun. My rifle kicked back at me as the bullet left the barrel. When an M16-A4 rifle fires a bullet, the bullet streaks out and cuts through the air at speeds upwards to 3,200 feet per second. That's 975 meters in almost the blink of an eye. Upon entering a human body, it turns sideways and tumbles around, ripping apart tissue, then it shatters.

**BANG!**

I wasn't even aiming, my rifle was pointing into nowhere and I randomly squeezed out shots, hoping not to get hit. Bullets smacked right into the dirt in front of me; they bounced off of things left and right. All that we could hear was whizzing of bullets and the constant sound of gunfire. I felt a hand grab me on the shoulder and shake me. It was Kira. She turned to me and started yelling something.

"Waffuru! …Rifle! …. Hit!" was all I could understand.

"What?!" I yelled back. She leaned closer and yelled again.

"AIM YOUR RIFLE AND HIT SOMETHING!" she yelled.

I turned my attention back to the battle. The rifle was in front of me, and I raised it to my eyes, lining it up with one of the distant soldiers in the field. My hand wobbled slightly, and it was hard to keep the sights on a target so small. Finally, I pulled the trigger and my gun lurched back and threw me off target. When I tried to pinpoint my target again, I found that he had crumpled to the floor. I just killed someone. Today, a Haisou family lost their son or husband, and it's all to blame on Zetsumei Raito.

Suddenly, there was something that I didn't expect. Explosions started showering us with debris. We were under artillery fire, and it was landing so close next to some of us, we were afraid to put our heads up. Suddenly, I heard screaming coming from behind us. It was Lieutenant Bryant- err…. Shanks. He was screaming something to our platoon leader.

"1st platoon, on your feet! We're flanking left!"

"3rd squad, let's move!" Kyoukan barked.

Kira and I scrambled out of our foxholes and we ran down the line, following our platoon leader. I had never met the guy, and now I'm following him in the midst of a storm of bullets and explosions, trusting him with my life. As we continued down the line, the Lieutenant was managing things with the other soldiers.

"2nd platoon, suppressing fire! I want those mortars pulled in here as soon as possible!"

We pulled out of the forest into a clearing, to the left (our left) side of the Haisou advance. We kept low behind shrubbery to avoid being spotted. We were given the order to hold up and we all stopped. Sergeant Kyoukan spoke with the platoon leader for a second, and then motioned for the rest of us to come with him. As we crept our way to him, he started revealing the plan.

"Alright, 1st and 2nd squads are going to lay down suppressing fire while we make our move. Dangan, Bijon, Houka and Kutabare will be laying down a base of fire while Raito, Chigiri and I will be flanking them along the sides. No one fires until I give the signal, any questions?"

We all remained quiet as the sounds of gunfire and explosions came off in the distance.

"Go."

We all moved out, staying as low as we could. Dangan moved ahead and scouted it out, along with the others. When they checked the area, they gave us the signal to move up. We scurried pass them and took cover along the side of a wall, facing The Haisou force's right flank. Kyoukan whispered to us.

"Right now, we're forming an L around the enemy position. Lieutenant Bryant called in elements of B Company to move up their left flank to the back. It's our job to lay down enough fire to make them fall back into that position. We're pushing them right into a trap.

Kira and I nodded. I glanced over at Houka, Kutabare, Dangan and Aragau. They gave me a thumbs-up and I nodded. I turned to Sergeant Kyoukan and awaited his instruction.

"Fire!"

Immediately, we all picked our targets and started dropping them. The enemy was so surprised; many of them didn't have time to react. They fell to the floor as we killed dozens of them. As they started to pull back and flee, we erupted into cheers. One of the Haisou soldiers got up from the floor and sprinted away, cowering in fear.

"Raito, finish him off."

I raised my rifle and steadied my breathing as I lined up my sights with the back of his head. I closed my eyes and squeezed the trigger.

**POW!**

When I opened my eyes, where there used to be a fleeing soldier, there was now a corpse with a bloody hole in the back of his helmet. Unfortunately, as the last of those forces pulled away, another platoon of soldiers ran at us, charging right at our position. Taken by surprise, we all quickly raised our weapons and opened fire, but we failed to kill more than a few. They began to storm our position, and the others held their fire in fear of hitting one of us.

**WHAP!**

A bullet caught the side of my helmet, and the force threw me onto my back. For a second, I wasn't sure if I was alive. Unfortunately for me, Sergeant Kyoukan decided that I had been killed, and grabbed Kira. The two of them sprinted back to their original position, leaving me behind, confused and dazed. As Kira was being dragged off, I could hear her screaming.

"Zetsumei! ZETSUMEI!" she yelled.

My vision was blurred, and my head was spinning from the force of the bullet. I reached up and felt my helmet to find that a piece of it had been chipped off by the shot. I was still alive, and I quickly came to that realization as I found Haisou troops coming at me. My weapon was out of reach, so I recalled that one story…

_I had no time to grab my sidearm; I quickly went for my combat knife…_

I grabbed my knife and sprang up, jamming it into the head of the nearest Haisou soldier from under his chinstrap. I wrenched the bloody knife out from his chin and turned around and slashed open the throat of a soldier running by me. Blood spurt out of his open throat as I grabbed my pistol out of its holster and shot 2 Haisou soldiers in the back. The last soldier, as he was climbing over the wall, came face to face with me. Quickly reacting, I rammed my knife into his face, in between his eyes. As blood gushed out of the wound, and he screamed in a horrifying manner. I ripped the knife out of his head and quickly spun around, striking him with the side of my pistol. As he fell to the ground, I unloaded a round into his temple. I was a bloody mess.

"Waffuru! Are you okay?" Dangan called out.

What was I turning into? I was becoming an animal, and I ended the lives of five men in a matter of seconds with such savage ferocity. I put my pistol back in its holster and put my knife away and stood there, shocked. Kira crept out of her cover and walked up to me, looking concerned. She placed her hand on my shoulder gently.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I could only shake my head.

"I don't know." I said.

--

That night, Kira and I were back in the foxhole. We both huddled up next to each other and started talking about the day. I told her a bit about my life and she told me a bit about hers.

"Why'd you join the military, Zetsumei?" she asked.

"I wanted to make a difference in the world. I wanted to feel like that in my life, I would have accomplished something to make the world a different place."

We both stared up at the stars and continued chatting. It was so peaceful, and we used this time to grow closer. I was making a true friend, right in the midst of a battlefield.

"I saw you handle yourself when our position got stormed, Zetsumei. That was pretty impressive." She said.

I turned away.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Kira, I never killed anyone before today. Today, I murdered 5 men viciously, without mercy. I'm barely human anymore; I'm becoming an animal with a horrid bloodlust." I said.

I stared at my hands.

"No matter how many times I clean these fingers, their blood will forever be on my hands. No matter what I do with my life after this war, I will never be as good at anything else as I am at killing people." I continued.

As I curled up into a ball, she put her hand on my shoulder.

"Try and get some rest, Zetsumei." She said softly.

She fell asleep with her hand on my shoulder. I fell asleep with my rifle on the other side of the foxhole.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The following morning, I woke up with my helmet in front of me and I was hugging my duffel bag. I wasn't quite ready to open my eyes and face the morning light just yet, but it felt good being wrapped up in the equipment.

Wait a second… My helmet is still attached to my head. And I don't even HAVE a duffel bag!

…Uh oh. At that moment I was too afraid to wake up and see what I was hugging. It felt warm, and it was made of fabric, so it was hopefully a big bag with a heater in it. Scared half to death, I started easing my eyes open to see what I would find. Sure enough, Kira was right in front of me, my hands were wrapped around her waist, and my nose was tucked gently behind the back of her head. A lot ran through my mind at that moment. Had anyone noticed? Is Kira really awake, but she doesn't want to say anything? Or is there any military policy against spooning with your superior?

Aragau walked by and caught sight of us. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the strange scene, and I glanced up at him. His jaw was hanging open, and he seemed immobilized by shock. He shook himself out of it and walked on, pretending like he never saw anything. I sighed with relief.

"You don't think I'm asleep, do you Private?" a voice said.

"OH GOD!" I screamed.

I quickly jerked my hands from around Kira's waist and rolled across the foxhole awkwardly. The entire platoon peeked their heads out of their foxholes to see what had happened. As I lay there, with half of Charlie Company staring at me, I could only smile sheepishly.

"Corporal Chigiri, I can explain! I-… err… you… there was-… your ammo belt…" I stammered.

She smiled. Not a word was said, she only smiled as I tried to explain myself with what can only be described as a bad case of verbal diarrhea. It might have been just my imagination, but as she was smiling, she was blushing a bit too. I turned away, watching the line without saying anything further.

Later that day, Aragau, Dangan, Bijon and Kutabare were bunched up outside the mess hall. I joined in, and they all looked at me and started laughing. Confused, I looked around at them and asked:

"What are you laughing at, guys?"

Just then, Corporal Chigiri walked by and smiled at me. The entire group erupted into loud laughter. I blushed and tried to hide myself.

"Waffuru here thought the night was a bit cold, right guys?" Aragau said.

"Yeah, but it didn't take long for things to get hot!" Dangan finished.

The crowd laughed again and pointed at me. I was so embarrassed; I didn't know what to say. It was then that Aragau did one of the dumbest things I ever witnessed in my life.

"Hey guys, maybe I'll get some of that for myself, huh?" he chuckled.

Aragau walked out of the group, the rest of us watching him curiously. Corporal Chigiri was adjusting her rifle, unaware that Aragau was coming up behind her. As Aragau approached her, he gave Kira a spank on the ass. Corporal Chigiri jumped, startled, and quickly turned around to find a smiling Aragau standing face-to-face with her.

"Hey baby, mind if I spend the night in YOUR foxho-"

Aragau was unable to finish his sentence. See, Corporal Chigiri had swung her leg up and the tip of her boot happened to connect with the underside of Private Setsu Aragau's groin. Setsu crumpled to the floor, coughing and wheezing, lying in fetal position. We all stood with our mouths hanging wide open as we watched Setsu roll about in unbearable pain. Corporal Chigiri looked up at me, winked, and walked away without saying a word. Setsu was still on the floor.

"Right… in the… balls…" he wheezed.

It was me who started laughing next.

--

As Kira and I were watching the line, Sergeant Kyoukan walked up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, and me motioned for me to come with him.

"Raito, get up. The Lieutenant wants to see you, let's go."

We walked together back to the CP. The wind was softly blowing and the gray skies seemed endless. It looked like a rainstorm was headed our way. As we entered the tent, we saw Lieutenant Bryant, inspecting a map. He looked up and motioned for us to come over and look at the map. We both looked down at the map of our area.

"Morning, gentlemen."

"Morning, sir." We responded.

"As you know, we're dug in along the line here." He pointed at a forested area on the map. "There is a clearance along the side of our position that runs to the side of the enemy lines. This small valley along the clearance should provide cover to anyone that's advancing on the way to the enemy lines. It's the same maneuver as if we were going to flank the enemy position. Follow this clearance to the right flank of the enemy." He said.

I looked at the sergeant and scratched my head.

"Sir, are we sending in the entire Company to flank the enemy?" I asked. "I thought we were assigned to dig in here."

"Not quite, Private. You see, we have no idea if we're up against a larger force or a weaker force. We need a small group of men to move along this valley and report back to give us the approximate number of men the Haisou forces have on the other side." He explained.

"If they have surveillance of this area, wouldn't they have defended their flank, sir?" I asked again.

"Our surveillance shows that their right flank has no defensive positions set up, you shouldn't encounter any resistance. You need to get in there, get the size of the enemy forces, and get out without being seen. The key is speed, don't pop the first thing that moves." The Lieutenant said.

"Raito, round up Chigiri and Dangan. Us four are going on this patrol." He said.

"Yessir."

--

Kira, Genzou, Keikan and I were moving out of our position. While we were away, we put Corporal Kutabare in charge of the squad. Sergeant Kyoukan was leading the patrol. Before we headed out, he went over everything.

"So the roster here is Corporal Kira Chigiri, Private First Class Zetsumei Raito, Private First Class Genzou Dangan and of course, me. All right, so there's a ditch off the in the distance, past the clearing that should pass right into the Haisou's right flank. We're going to follow this ditch to their lines and gather intel on the size of their forces there. No one opens fire; we get in, get the intel, and get out. Questions?" he said.

No one said anything.

"Let's get going."

Sergeant Kyoukan walked off, Dangan close behind him. I turned to Corporal Chigiri and looked at the floor. I had the oddest feeling that something was going to happen on this patrol. My stomach was crawling.

"Listen, Corporal Chigiri… I have an uneasy feeling about this patrol and I think that maybe you should know my intents if anything happens to me." I said.

"What do you mean, Private?" she asked.

Without thinking, I pulled her to me, and our lips connected in a kiss. I held her there for a second, our lips together. She was so beautiful, I couldn't resist it. As I slowly let her go, my eyes opened as her cheeks turned red. She gently closed her eyes and smiled. I quickly turned and caught up with Sergeant Kyoukan. We started moving along the ditch.

--

It was a long walk. We walked for about 20 minutes before the lines came within sight. We all crept down low to the ground in order not to be seen. My weapon was on safety, but I kept my thumb on the switch just to be ready. So far, there was no resistance. We turned to our right as the enemy lines inched closer.

"Dangan, scout it out." He ordered.

He moved up and took a peek over at the enemy lines. No one had noticed, and we were getting closer to the frontlines. As we peeked up, we started looking at the amount of men they had. Kyoukan looked through binoculars. He mumbled slightly as he scanned the area.

"Looks like we're attacking a larger force." He said.

I sighed and turned around. As I stared off in the horizon, I could have sworn there was something a bit off in the distance. I looked through my binoculars and tried to spot what it was. As I zoomed in with my binoculars, I discovered with shock that it was an enemy machinegun position. It was aimed right at us, and the crew was loading it. We had been spotted.

I slowly lowered my binoculars in disbelief. I knew I only had a few seconds to react. The rest of the squad was focused on the enemy lines, only I was facing towards the machinegun. I had to make a move.

"LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" I screamed.

Machinegun bullets tore through the air above our heads and smacking into the dirt beside us. I urged the line to move faster, pushing and pulling the entire squad. Startled, my squad scrambled to run out as the front lines opened fire on our squad. Bullets were landing all around us, pinging off of the dirt inches away from us.

"Get back to the lines, move it!" Kyoukan yelled.

In the faint distance I could hear a whistling noise.

"Everybody down!" I yelled.

Corporal Chigiri turned around, confused. I quickly tackled her to the floor, and mortar rounds started landing on our position. Explosions went off left and right dirt and bullets rained about us. Kyoukan checked our status.

"Sound off, Goddammit!" He screamed.

"Dangan, here!" Genzou yelled back.

"Raito, I'm okay!" I answered.

"Chigiri, I'm fine!" Kira called out.

The mortars stopped dropping and we continued moving. As we started up again, an enemy platoon came up to our left and opened fire. As Kyoukan and Chigiri ducked for cover, I flipped the safety off of my rifle.

"Dangan, suppressing fire!" I ordered.

We both started firing on the enemy platoon until they were suppressed. While we kept up the fire, we urged the others to keep moving. As I peered back, I saw a sharpshooter taking aim at us… No, not at me. He was aiming at Kira! I quickly jerked Corporal Chigiri aside and warned her:

"Get down!"

Just then, a bullet ripped into my side. I collapsed immediately, my body went limp and I hit the ground. My side was stained red, and the pain was burning through my entire body. It hurt so much, I could barely move, paralyzed by the pain. I started screaming.

"AUUGHHHHH!! I'm hit!"

"Zetsumei!" Kira screamed.

I was clutching my wound. I lifted my hand and stared at it. My hand was completely covered in blood, glistening in the sunlight. The pain was too great for me to get up, I remained on the floor.

"Zetsumei! Zetsumei!!" Kira was shrieking.

"Dangan, get him up! We need to get the hell out of here!"

Bullets were still flying all about us. As I started coughing, blood oozed out of my mouth. Kira looked like she was going to cry, her hands were over her mouth. Dangan grabbed my arms and Sergeant Kyoukan grabbed my legs. My rifle was slung over my shoulder as they started carrying me away. The gunfire died down, but I began to fade in and out.

The entire way back, Kira was throwing a fit. She kept her hand on mine, applying pressure to the wound. She looked at me with teary eyes and kept begging for me to stay alive. She wiped off the blood trickling down my cheek as I was coughing up more. It was getting hard for me to maintain focus.

As we got back to our position, we found that artillery was landing on our position, causing complete havoc and chaos. Explosions brought trees down around foxholes as people scrambled for cover. Dirt shot meters into the sky and rained back down. Kyoukan and Dangan quickly dropped me and tried to find cover. Kira knelt beside me as artillery shells bombarded us.

"Medic!!" she called.

I spat up more blood and I looked at my wound again. It was still bleeding, not as much as before, but if someone didn't treat this, I would bleed to death. It was hard for me to focus and I was starting to black out. I tried to say something to Kira, but I didn't have the strength anymore.

"MEDIIIC! We need a medic here!" she continued to scream.

A man ran over to me with a red cross on his arm. He began to look at the wound and start taking out bandages. My vision was blurring.

"It's okay, Zetsumei. You're going to be fine. It's all going to be okay." I heard Kira say.

"Ma'am, I think you should find cover."

BOOM!

Artillery was still hammering our position, but Corporal Chigiri didn't budge.

"I'm not leaving Zetsumei!" she yelled. I could hear she was almost on the verge of crying.

As the medic was bandaging me up, consciousness slipped away from me. My view started to go black and my head went limp and slumped off to the side.

"Zetsumei!… ZETSUMEI!!" a girl yelled.

I didn't respond.


End file.
